is that he shares my non-emotive relationship with our Lady.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with people (like f’rinstance John Paul) who have an intensely emotional relationship with Mary. My attitude to the readers of Spirit Daily and those who are deeply enthused about Marian apparitions is “de gustibus”. Far be it from me to get in the way of how God made you and the way in which you related to Our Lady.
Only… I seem to lack the gene for getting all het up about Marian apparitions. I have found the Eucharistic miracle at Betania to be be very helpful to my devotional life and I believe the approved apparitions of the Church are, indeed, legit. But I have never had a big enthusiasm for them. They point us back to a more fervent participation in the normal life of the Church and that’s good enough for me. But there’s not a big emotional spark there and I have no interest in trying to parse the meaning of the Third Mystery or all the other hankering after the Cosmic Inside Scoop that so occupies some folk. There may be something to it all. I don’t know. It just doesn’t grab me as it does some folk.
This is Romans 14 territory. In essential things, unity. In doubtful things, liberty. In all things, charity. For whatever reason, some of us have a passionate affective relationship with Mary or some saint. More power to you! You do it in honor of the Lord. Some of us have a real faith in the gift God gave us in our Lady when he said, “Behold your Mother”. We honor her. We do our best to imitate her faith. We seek her intercession and try to “Do whatever he tells you” as she said to do. But the emotional component of the relationship is not particularly strong. That is not a sin. It’s just how some of us are made. We are not to sit in judgement of one another.
For myself, I don’t really know why the emotional relationship with Mary has never sparked. Reading St. Louis de Montfort or some of Augustine’s more purple passages about the Glories of Mary is often a frustratingly dry experience. Reading enthusiasts for Fatima pore over the Secrets and Mysteries has often made me feel like I have a tin ear for the Divine Music. Everybody’s passionate about this stuff but me!
And now I find that Benedict appears to be a kindred spirit. He honors Our Lady but does not appear to be inclined to get too caught up in the emotional whirl of Fatima. I feel affirmed in my okayness!
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I’m a bit like you Mark…
I have had a few times when I’ve really connected to Mary as mother, but most especially as an elder “sister” in the Lord.
My favorite image of her is the annunciation by Tanner, http://blogs.princeton.edu/wri152-3/s06/dooreyc/Images/annunciation.jpg
When I pray the rosary I’ve feel as though she’s praying with me to the Lord…
One of the first times I was praying the mystery w/ the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was a really cool experience. I felt her prayers with me to the Spirit… (i was driving) then as I passed an eighteen-wheeler- I noticed on the back of the truck was an image of Mary (almost stenciled in with reflective tape).
Amazing.
Pray for us holy Mary.
I don’t know, I think Pope Benedict XVI is way more Marian than you might think…
FATIMA, Portugal (Catholic Online) - In the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Pope Benedict XVI made an Act of Entrustment and Consecration of all the Priests of the world to the Immacualte Heart of Mary. Here is the beautiful Prayer of Consecration offered by the Holy Father.
*****
Act of Entrustment and Consecration of Priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Immaculate Mother,
in this place of grace,
called together by the love of your Son Jesus
the Eternal High Priest, we,
sons in the Son and his priests,
consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart,
in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.
We are mindful that, without Jesus,
we can do nothing good (cf. Jn 15:5)
and that only through him, with him and in him,
will we be instruments of salvation
for the world.
Bride of the Holy Spirit,
obtain for us the inestimable gift
of transformation in Christ.
Through the same power of the Spirit that
overshadowed you,
making you the Mother of the Saviour,
help us to bring Christ your Son
to birth in ourselves too.
May the Church
be thus renewed by priests who are holy,
priests transfigured by the grace of him
who makes all things new.
Mother of Mercy,
it was your Son Jesus who called us
to become like him:
light of the world and salt of the earth
(cf. Mt 5:13-14).
Help us,
through your powerful intercession,
never to fall short of this sublime vocation,
nor to give way to our selfishness,
to the allurements of the world
and to the wiles of the Evil One.
Preserve us with your purity,
guard us with your humility
and enfold us with your maternal love
that is reflected in so many souls
consecrated to you,
who have become for us
true spiritual mothers.
Mother of the Church,
we priests want to be pastors
who do not feed themselves
but rather give themselves to God for their brethren,
finding their happiness in this.
Not only with words, but with our lives,
we want to repeat humbly,
day after day,
Our “here I am”.
Guided by you,
we want to be Apostles
of Divine Mercy,
glad to celebrate every day
the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar
and to offer to those who request it
the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Advocate and Mediatrix of grace,
you who are fully immersed
in the one universal mediation of Christ,
invoke upon us, from God,
a heart completely renewed
that loves God with all its strength
and serves mankind as you did.
Repeat to the Lord
your efficacious word:
“They have no wine” (Jn 2:3),
so that the Father and the Son will send upon us
a new outpouring of
the Holy Spirit.
Full of wonder and gratitude
at your continuing presence in our midst,
in the name of all priests
I too want to cry out:
“Why is this granted me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).
Our Mother for all time,
do not tire of “visiting us”,
consoling us, sustaining us.
Come to our aid
and deliver us from every danger
that threatens us.
With this act of entrustment and consecration,
we wish to welcome you
more deeply, more radically,
for ever and totally
into our human and priestly lives.
Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth
in the desert of our loneliness,
let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness,
let it restore calm after the tempest,
so that all mankind shall see the salvation
of the Lord,
who has the name and the face of Jesus,
who is reflected in our hearts,
for ever united to yours!
Amen!
I don’t think he’s “not Marian”. In fact, I think he’s intensely Marian. What he’s not is extremely emotional or affective in his Marian devotion, as near as I can see. Emotions are neither virtuous or sinful.
Another kindred spirit here. I’ve just started picking up the rosary again, but I always had an intensely dry time with Marian devotion. It doesn’t mean I don’t love our Blessed Mother, I just usually have such a hard time with those prayers that they become a hindrance more than help.
Mark, count me among your number. I love Our Lady very much, and almost nothing brings me more spiritual succor than meditating on the mystery of her grace-filled role in the pageant of salvation. I entrust my sons to her, daily; she is their mother. I believe the approved miracles happens, and I have a particular fondness for Our Lady of Lourdes, but I don’t get caught up in the meat-and-potatoes-apparition stuff. I can’t say why, exactly. I know that intellectually and spiritually, Mary stimulates me in so many ways, perhaps I am satiated, already! :-)
Kind of a kindred spirit here. I have an appreciation for Mary but certainly not any sort of devotion to her. I spent my childhood in evangelical protestant churchs and then came to the Catholic Church as an adult. While I understand why people might like to emulate Mary and devote their lives to her (?), I have a hard time finding it necessary when we have the Lord of Lords and King of Kings to emulate. That of course is her most holy and blessed son, Jesus Christ. While I’m glad that Mary said yes to the Lord, I’m happier knowing that Jesus said yes to his father. It’s probably my old protestant nature about me but I can’t see myself ever having warm and fuzzies for Mary…
I think “the Mary thing” (as i’ve heard it put many times) has and will be a difficulty hurdke for converts. A lot of the emotional aspects that cradle catholics pick up are learned form mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc. Pope Benedict German may appear a bit more stoic than a Pole. Having said that, I am very happ to have you on board!
Maybe part of what Bob says is “emotional aspects that cradle catholics pick up from [their families]” is also very much influenced by the relationships within your own family: My mother, for example, is very emotional; not so my Dad… so I am usually half-and-half, and mostly non demostrative, although emotions do play a very important part in my life… as well as in my own Marian devotion!
All the best!
Wendy
PS: Glad you mentioned Betania - that’s a “case in point,” as many Venezuelans act mostly by emotions with respect to that, with little influence of the intellectual knowledge and faith… (weeeellll, I have to say Venezuelans are generally more sentimental than thinking, after all!)
If you don’t think Benedict XVI has a strong attachment to Mary, you’d better take a closer look at Benedict XV and his connection to Fatima. Cheers!
To Jesus through Mary is a motto all Catholics understand. It is not necessarily an emotional approach at all…very much of the intellect. As Jesus was dying he “gave” us Mary to be our Mother also…to lead us and nuture us in the ways of her Son. As for private revelations…those approved by the Church should have great significance for all. Other private revelations can and should be viewed with a bit of skepticism however all the approved apparitions were at one time “under suspicion”.In our culture it is difficult for most to mentally accept not Mary as our mother in Heaven but get our minds around what might be by some interpreted as unsound and un-founded. That is where faith must play a strong role. For me, meditating on the life of Mary is more instructive than trying to “figure out” these apparitions. Interesting to note that the current Pope seems to have an analytical approach to all things including the apparitions of Mary. I think it has alot to do with how one’s mind works….we have our differences.
Since my childhood, I’ve had a devotion to the Blessed Mother. Fortunately, I see the same devotion in my children.
In this case, I’ve been blessed.
All for Jesus through Mary!
Romano Guardini talks about the difference between the devotional life of the Church and the Liturgical Life of the Church. Not everyone will encompass every devotion because some are regional, some encompass only a certain epoch, and become some just don’t attract us. The Church Father’s give us a strong theological basis for our faith and we can use that. But in the end, “to me Christ and the Church are one and we shouldn’t complicate the issue”… Nice said Mark and this from a man who has had a strong devotional life; especially to Mary and St. Joseph.
Hey, Mark. Sorry you can’t put your finger on why Marian devotion leaves you cold. Me, I never had to wonder. Popular piety offends the snob in me. It’s declasse—the religion of Joe Six-Pack (or maybe I should say, Joe Pix Sack). Rightly or wrongly, I figure that anyone who will join a throng in waiting for the Blessed Mother to appear, will also join a lynch mob, or at least a tea party.
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